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ARS pruners any good?
WAMS
Posts: 1,960
I have an Amazon voucher to spend and was wondering about these. https://www.amazon.co.uk/ARS-130DX-184mm-Secateurs-Grip/dp/B000AQQEUO
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Unless I'm cutting something quite woody I use those.
The blades are still extremely sharp and they weigh almost nothing.
So I'd guess their secateurs are also very good.
I have Felco 2 secateurs that I've had for 15yrs or more - they are also excellent.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
They are small but well made for what they are. They are for light duty only.
The blades are made from stamped low grade stainless steel, not heat treated so relatively soft but easy to sharpen.
The handles come in various colours: cream white, black, red, green and blue.
I would say that the max cut diameter is about 10mm live wood. The blades and/or handles will be damaged if you repeatedly cut hard, dried out dead branches.
You can buy them cheaply from aliexpress - I bought 20 for £1.76 each about two years ago for a garden workshop activity.
My local hardware stores (Turkish pound shops I call them) also sell them for a few quid.
In my opinion, the ultimate secateurs are based on the Japanese two-piece design with the safety-pin spring, made from Japanese heat treated high carbon steel or Japanese stainless steel.
Their cutting action and feel is more akin to a high precision surgical instrument than a rugged farmer's tool.
Felco secateurs are good but their design is both an advantage and a curse. They have aluminium handles with replaceable blades - I have broken four pairs of Number 2s and many clones based on this design.
Over time, the screws develop slop (steel screws in aluminium holes) which contribute to a vague cutting action and feel that I don't like.